A Journey of Postcards

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Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Postcard
Dating back to the the 16th century, Erdene Zuu is the oldest Buddhist Monastery In Mongolia. At its height, the monastery compound had more than 60 temples and 300 gers (yurts) inside its walls, with close to 1,000 monks in residence.
Today, Erdene Zuu is a walled compound surrounded by 108 stupas – 108 is a magical number in Buddhism. Inside, three temples survived from the 16th century.

The monastery is part of Orkhon Valley Cultural Landscape, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Monday, December 11, 2017

PostcardGrip is a small archipelago off the coast of Norway, near the city of Kristiansund. The fishing village is located on Gripholmen, which is the largest and only habitable island. For centuries it had a popuation of about 100 - 400. I

It was once a busy place, when 2,000 fishermen could stay there during the height of the fishing season. Today it has no permanent inhabitants, but it can be visited as a tourist.

Sunday, December 10, 2017

PostcardSaint Lucia is an island country in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean. It is a beautiful, mountainous volcanic island with high peaks, majestic rain-forests and sandy beaches.

Saturday, December 9, 2017

Postcard
Bohey Dulang is a mountainous island formed by the remnants of an ancient volcano. The crater forming Bohey Dulang is flooded with seawater creating a large, majestic lagoon 25 meters deep.
Bohey Dulang is part of Tun Sakaran Marine Park, also known as the Semporna Islands Park. It comprises eight islands: Bohey Dulang, Bodgaya, Sebangkat, Selakan, Mantabuan, Sibuan and Maiga.

Thursday, December 7, 2017

Postcard
Not often these days I receive a postcard from a country new to my collection. But today a postcard from Equatorial Guinea found its way to my mailbox. Already sent in March!

Equatorial Guinea is a small country in West Africa with 1,2 million inhabitants. The country is divided into two parts, the mainland and the islands. The country's capital, Malabo is located on Bioko Island. Equatorial Guinea is a former Spanish colony, bordering Cameroon and Gabon.

Did you know that it is the richest country per capita in Africa? But because the wealth is distributed extremely unevenly only few people have benefited from the oil riches. As a result, less than half of the population has access to clean drinking water and 20% of children die before reaching the age of five.

Wednesday, December 6, 2017

Postcard
Zuojiang Huashan Rock Art Cultural Landscape in Chongzuo City is a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2016.

Located on the steep cliffs in the border regions of southwest China it illustrates the life and rituals of the Luoyue people. They date from the period around the 5th century BCE to the 2nd century CE.

Tuesday, December 5, 2017

PostcardFez (or Fes) is the second largest city of Morocco, with a population of 1.1 million. Founded in the 9th century, the Medina of Fez is considered as one of the most extensive and best conserved historic towns of the Arab-Muslim world. Medina of Fez is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Located behind a high wall, the medina has narrow, car-free alleys where hundreds of merchants and craftsmen sell a range of products such as dates, fish, spices, copper urns, carpets and musical instruments. Fez is also famous for its leather products and most of it comes from the leather bazaar (souq). The souq is home to three ancient leather tanneries.

Monday, December 4, 2017

PostcardSt. George's Island is one of the main islands of the territory of Bermuda. Gates Fort was built around 1612 by Thomas Gates to guard the channel and approaches to St. George's harbour from the open sea.

Historic Town of St George and Related Fortifications, Bermuda is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Saturday, December 2, 2017

Postcard
Škocjan Caves Regional Park is situated in the Kras Plateau of South-West Slovenia. The caves have a highly multi-branched system of cave passages totalling 6.2 kilometres in length, the lowest point being 223 metres deep.

It is one of the world's largest known underground river canyons, cut into the limestone bedrock by the Reka River.

Postcard
Dessau is the city most closely associated with the Bauhaus Movement. This is where the school of design founded by Walter Gropius in Weimar in 1919 was active for the longest period of time.

All three directors of the Bauhaus – Walter Gropius, Hannes Meyer und Ludwig Mies van der Rohe – left their mark on the Bauhaus Dessau, and almost all of the Bauhaus buildings erected in Dessau are now regarded as icons of twentieth century architecture.

Bauhaus and its Sites in Weimar, Dessau and Bernau is a UNESCO World Heritage site.